Hiccup and Toothless are back on the big screen, with a new story and new artwork that almost tops the original film. Almost.

The original How to Train Your Dragon had all of the right ingredients for a fantastic animated film. The classic coming of age tale turned on its head with incredible fantasy elements that could only be delivered by a high quality CG animation studio like Dreamworks. Creating a sequel to a movie that was so highly regarded is a more than daunting task, and we all have examples that immediately come to mind when a failed sequel destroys an otherwise great franchise.

In order for How to Train Your Dragon 2 to be successful, it needed to repeat most of the basic successful elements from the previous film so as to demonstrate how everyone’s favorite Dragon and rider have not yet finished growing up yet.

The most logical place you can go after a classic coming of age tale is a different kind of coming of age tale, in this case crossing from child hero to fated adult. The movie takes place five years after the first movie, which means for the last five years this strange Viking village has grown comfortable with dragons as pets and helpers while Hiccup goes off to try his hand at being an explorer.

Now that everyone is busy not constantly fighting for survival, our hero is creating a map of the known world so that he might discover other villages and dragons. Hiccup has also taken to a not-so-primitive sort of wingsuit flying, and he takes every opportunity to jump off of things and glide around.

While the story of how Hiccup and Toothless have grown up is compelling and amusing, Dreamworks seems to have grown as well. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is beautiful in ways the original can’t hold a candle to. Details are incredibly crisp, right down to the individual strands of hair on every head and epic beards in the movie. You’ll notice it most with Stoic the Vast, Hiccup’s ultra Viking father with a beard that can only be described as godlike. Everything about the animation has improved, and it’s a welcomed improvement during the many combat scenes in the film.

The other thing worth mentioning about the changes in how the film is setup would be the volume of actual Viking things that happen. The first How to Train Your Dragon recognized that the town was Viking, but almost in a playful or joking manner that never really becomes a part of the film. The sequel pays much closer attention to Viking traditions, which becomes important as Hiccup and Stoic have conversations about being the next Chief.

Hiccup, who has spent his life challenging “the way we do things around here”, is obviously not ready to be thrust into this position. Instead, Hiccup would rather fly around and wield his impressive combination of technology way beyond its time and blind youthful optimism to solve the problems of the world. You can see how that wouldn’t exactly work out in practice, but at least we get to see more of him fly about.

While it is difficult to find actual criticism for this sequel, there are two little things that stand out as problems. The first is with Hiccup’s mother, Valka, who has spent the majority of her son’s life hanging out with dragons. Her story is solid, but the animation for Valka is directly contradictory of the first film. In the original movie, Stoic gives Hiccup a massive helmet that was supposedly one of two helmets that were crafted from Valka’s breastplate. After seeing this woman in the film, it’s fairly clear that the helmet from the first movie did not come from anything the dragon master we meet in the second movie ever wore.

The other criticism of the film was Hiccup’s dialogue, which in several places felt forced and drawn out. Hiccup spends a significant amount of time essentially having the same conversation over and over again, always leading to the same conclusion. Hiccup doesn’t get the answer he wants, so it’s time to hop on Toothless and take matters into his own hands. This forces his friends and family to come help him out, which causes the same situation to repeat itself once the action starts.

If you are a fan of the first movie, you should really make the trip to the theater to enjoy this sequel. The visuals are great, the story is exactly what it needed to be in order to set the stage for a trilogy, and there’s a perfect blend of moments that make you laugh and moments that bring a tear to the eye. It’s great for families or to just go and watch for yourself, and fortunately they didn’t attempt a cliffhanger in preparation for the third movie.

It’s not often we as moviegoers get to enjoy a sequel as much as the original, but you can walk into the theater this time knowing you’re in for a great experience.